MyFord Touch


MyFord Touch is an in-car communications and entertainment system developed by the Ford Motor Company, based on Microsoft technologies. The technology was factory installed with Ford product offerings and was based on the Microsoft Auto 4.0 software platform. It was regarded as the next-generation of Ford Sync. Announced in January 2010, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the technology launched with the 2011 Ford Edge. Reviews of MyFord Touch were overwhelmingly negative. A USB drive, self-installed software upgrade became available in March, 2012; this update was mailed out free-of-charge to all Ford customers, and Ford also offered free installation of the update by any Ford dealer. The update did not address continuing problems with light-touch capacitor switches that control many functions. Several updates have since been released which allowed for more natural speech recognition, simpler Bluetooth pairing, and refinement of the on-screen interface and menus.

Overview

MyFord Touch promised to enable drivers of Ford cars to seamlessly integrate nearly all mobile phones, PDAs and digital media players into their cars. Operation of these devices, utilizing advanced Ford Sync functionality, was performed using voice commands, touch-screen inputs, the vehicle's steering wheel, radio controls, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. MyFord Touch is also capable of receiving text messages and reading these text messages aloud to occupants of the car.
Fulfillment of the system's promise has fallen short, with thousands of MyFord Touch owners complaining that the system is unreliable, that it crashes without warning, that it fails to respond to commands, and that it fails to integrate with common mobile devices, such as the iPhone. Ford reliability ratings, both by Consumer Reports and J.D. Power, have plummeted because of the defects in the MyFord Touch system, and Consumer Reports recommends that new car buyers not consider Ford or Lincoln models equipped with MyFord Touch or MyLincoln Touch.
As a stand-alone option, the MSRP for MyFord Touch is $1,000. Purchasers of this option get the MyFord Touch system with two driver-configurable 4.2" color LCD displays in the gauge cluster, one 8" color LCD touch screen in the center stack, a media hub with 2 USB ports, SD card reader, RCA video input jacks and 5-way controls located on steering wheel; Sync voice activated communications and entertainment system.

Features

  • Voice-Activated Commands: Uses Ford Sync technology to control the climate, audio, phone and navigation features in a hands-free manner through the use of only their voice.
  • * On-screen menus accompany voice-activated commands to let the driver see which commands they can use.
  • Traffic, Directions and Information: Visual presentation of Ford Sync traffic, directions and information applications.
  • * Traffic Alerts – provided by INRIX.
  • * Map-based navigation application via an optional SD card – provided by TeleNav.
  • * SD card navigation includes services like weather maps, gas prices, and movie listings – via SIRIUS Travel Link.
  • Vehicle Health Report: Vehicle Report provides a personalized online report for the vehicle showing vehicle diagnostics, scheduled maintenance and any recall information. Vehicle Health Report allows users to schedule car service online, directly with the users' preferred car dealer, directly from the personalized online report.. This service discontinued on August 1, 2018.
  • 911 Assist: A form of Advanced Automatic Collision Notification, when sensors detect the vehicle has been involved in a collision involving airbag deployment and, on certain vehicles, where the emergency fuel pump shut-off is activated, 911 Assist puts the occupant of the car directly in touch with a 911 operator. 911 Assist provides a 10-second window where occupants have the option to cancel the call before dialing. Where occupants of the car are unable to speak, 911 Assist delivers an emergency message to the 911 operator.
  • Internet Connectivity: MyFord Touch provides full Wi-Fi capability. The technology also includes hotspot connectivity enabling other devices to share the MyFord Touch system's internet connection.
  • * Supports on-screen and USB-connected keyboards.
  • * RSS feed aggregator and text-to-voice reader.
  • * In-car Wi-Fi hot-spot capability through USB mobile broadband modem or USB-installed Aircard.
  • Media features:
  • * Two USB 2.0 inputs, MyFord Touch provides compatibility with USB-connected MP3 players.
  • * SD card slot
  • * RCA jack input for Audio and Video
  • * AM/FM radio, CD player, Sirius Satellite Radio, HD Radio capability
  • * Internet Media player equipped with new Podcast category
  • * Bluetooth Enhanced Data Rate audio support

    MyFord Touch availability

North America

Unreliability of the MyFord Touch system has been cited by J.D. Power & Associates as the primary factor contributing to a decline in Ford's standing in the 2011 "Initial Quality Survey" of new car purchasers. The study ranked 2011 Ford vehicles' initial quality in 23rd position, down from fifth position in 2010. The ranking of Lincoln vehicles, a Ford subsidiary that also uses the Touch system branded as "MyLincoln Touch," declined from eighth to 17th place year over year. Consumer Reports recommends that no one consider buying used 2011 Ford Edges equipped with MyFord Touch systems. As Ford has expanded availability of its MyFord Touch system to more vehicles, Consumer Reports has downgraded its ratings for vehicles so equipped.
Early purchasers of the first generation MyFord Touch system complained that MyFord Touch systems crashed without warning, did not reliably respond to touch commands, and often failed to sync with mobile phones and iPods. The March 2012 MyFord Touch upgrade, addressed some of these performance issues, however even the latest MyFord Touch systems use capacitive, rather than standard, switches that lack positive feel and are extremely difficult to use with gloves on.
Initial reception of the March 2012 software upgrade, which overhauled the user interface and addressed many performance issues, has been largely positive. There has since been several incremental software upgrades, addressing some issues that have plagued the system since its introduction, such as touchscreen menu lag and voice recognition commands. However, problems remain, and some owners continue to experience difficulties with the system, even with the new upgrade fully installed. As a result of falling reliability rankings and widespread customer complaints, Ford announced they would extend the warranty on the MyFord Touch system to five years with unlimited miles, up from three years and 36,000 miles. Some owners have expressed their hope that Ford will continue upgrading the MyFord Touch system until it fulfills its original design promises; meanwhile owners must make do with remaining glitches.
In order to address the many criticisms on the Microsoft-powered system, Ford decided to use BlackBerry's QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment beginning in 2015, referred to by Ford as Sync 3. This QNX-based system has been shown to be much more responsive and stable. Unfortunately, it does not appear that Ford will allow owners of vehicles with MyFord Touch to upgrade to Sync 3.

End of life

Though Ford has yet to confirm when it will officially stop producing software updates for SYNC2, it is evident that it has entered its end-of-life stage. Whilst 3.8 was thought to be the last official version, 3.10 was released to address certain bugs on November 16, 2017, marking over 7 years since an official update - more than cause to classify the software as end-of-life. This has not been readily available in Europe, where Ford does not have a customer self-service portal and dealers are not always willing to tamper due to the very slow download times for the update and the low success rates causing total failure of the unit. Only certain technicians are trained to perform the upgrade leading to limited knowledge and natural avoidance in performing the upgrade in case of problems. A service bulletin regarding the software update suggests that unless specific problems are encountered with the device then the software update should not be performed. Once updated it is impossible to downgrade.
With such natural demand, the update has appeared in an unofficial form on most Ford forums and has been successfully installed by many, without any issues.

Discontinuation

SYNC2 was officially discontinued as of Q4 2015 and is no longer available as an option to order. New vehicles ordered with the option and built from Q4 2015 onwards were transitioned to the QNX-based SYNC3 system depending on the specific production cycle. Existing stocks were retained for warranty repairs and replacements, particularly for early-model units in the European market that experienced hardware-software synchronization flaws when equipped with dual-zone climate control.
In certain models, the SYNC2 and SYNC3 hardware units are directly interchangeable; however, upgrading from a SYNC2 unit to SYNC3 requires the replacement of the physical USB hub to support CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a new GPS antenna.